The Association of Ticket Sellers requested that the draft bill seeking to increase the percentage to 20 percent be addressed. "We have been waiting for this for 20 years," said the union leader, Fernando González.
Panama.- Sellers of chances and tickets of the National Lottery of Charity (LNB) have made a claim for the advancement in the processing of the project to increase their sales profits, raising the margin to 20 percent.
Fernando González, from the Association of Ticket Sellers, stated that they are requesting the new administration of the entity to increase the sales percentages. In this regard, he reiterated that there is a draft law in the National Assembly, which seeks to increase the profits to 20 percent. He maintained that a subcommittee was created to look at all aspects of the issue and with the new administration, a step forward has been taken for this to happen.
However, González expressed his concern that the Assembly may soon stop convening and perhaps the issue will be postponed to next year. "We ticket sellers have been waiting for this for over 20 years," the union leader complained about the urgency in adopting a new scale of profits on sales.
See also: Panamanians allocated USD 1.375m to gambling in the first five months of 2024
According to González, currently, the profit percentage is at 10 percent of sales, so raising it to 20 percent would mean a change in the life of the workers. Saquina Jaramillo, director of the institution, said that the corresponding evaluations will be made to comply with this request from the Executive Chief.
Finally, the head of the ticket sellers association explained the need to delve into the fight against illegal gambling, which is harmful to the LNB but also to the workers. According to a recent report from the LNB, illegal gambling would cause the entity to miss out on collecting about USD 200m annually.
While the debate to modify the amounts received by the lottery sellers is taking place in the legislative sphere, the mayor's office of La Chorrera announced that it will carry out operations to combat the proliferation of illegal gambling.
The ticket sellers from that locality expressed how affected they are by the illegal sale of lottery tickets and requested that a stop be put to the offenders, detecting them with operations led by the Mayor's Office of La Chorrera, in conjunction with the National Police (PN), Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) and the Public Ministry (MP).
The affected parties highlighted that there is a proliferation of premises dedicated to clandestine sales and emphasized that it is unfair competition that greatly affects their income, that of the LNB, and the State.
The Bureau of Immigration has reported that some foreign workers have not yet downgraded their visas.
The Philippines.- The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has reported that approximately 20,000 foreign offshore gaming workers are expected to leave the country by December 31. Some have not yet filed to downgrade their visas.
As of November 7, 21,757 foreign nationals linked to offshore gaming operators had voluntarily changed their work visas to temporary visitor visas and 10,821 had already left the country.
In October, the BI issued cancellation orders for 12,106 people who had not voluntarily downgraded their visas. They must leave the country by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the DOLE has announced that a job fair for workers who have been displaced from internet gaming licensees (IGLs) will be held on December 6 in Calabarzon. Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) director Patrick Patriwirawan said the department is assisting former offshore gaming workers in processing their applications for unemployment insurance benefits, with 435 people having applied so far.
He said workers are being directed to the nearest Public Employment Service Office (PESO) for job placements and support with career development services.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) director Winnie Quidato told the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality that some offshore gaming operators continue operating in the country disguised as business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to evade the ban issued under Executive Order (EO) 74.
“The big offshore gaming companies that we have raided before or that existed before, we see them breaking down into smaller groups. Some are even branding themselves now as BPOs,” Quidato told the panel during the last public hearing on illegal activities linked to offshore gaming operators. He said he hoped such “guerrilla offshore gaming operators” would not affect “the good image that BPOs have established in the country.”
